AI Summary
Most Saudi listed companies have shown a great deal of risk aversion and are thus well-positioned to face an economic downturn as they are cash rich and have small levels of debt, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the kingdom’s central bank, said in a recent report.
“Most corporate sector entities listed on the stock exchange remained less reliant on borrowing,” SAMA noted in its first Financial Stability Report. ‘’Banks continued to rely more on deposits and hence ended up with the lowest debt-to-asset ratio of 4.54 percent.’’
The overall debt-to-assets ratio increased by 1.16 percent to 28.53 percent last year, yet remained below the 50 percent mark as most sectors preferred long-term borrowing.
Their combined short-term debt relative to total debt stood at 12.37 percent.
The energy and utilities sector’s debt was 43.91 percent of its total assets, reflecting the highest level of leveraging in all sectors, according to SAMA.
|
Lending indictors by sector |
||||||
|
Change (%) |
Short term debt/ total debt (%) |
Change (%) |
Total debt/ total assets (%) |
Sector |
||
|
2014 |
2013 |
2014 |
2013 |
|||
|
(6%) |
81.1% |
86.4% |
(10%) |
4.5% |
5.0% |
Banks & Financial Services |
|
(34%) |
10.2% |
15.5% |
(6%) |
32.1% |
34.2% |
Petrochemical |
|
+27% |
50.1% |
39.4% |
(12%) |
12.3% |
13.9% |
Cement |
|
+69% |
52.2% |
30.8% |
+7% |
18.2% |
17.0% |
Retail |
|
+398% |
6.3% |
1.3% |
+4% |
43.9% |
42.2% |
Energy |
|
(8%) |
38.2% |
41.4% |
(1%) |
29.7% |
30.0% |
Agriculture & Food Industries |
|
(41%) |
11.4% |
19.4% |
(6%) |
18.3% |
19.5% |
Telecommunication |
|
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Insurance |
|
(52%) |
6.2% |
12.8% |
+3% |
20.8% |
20.1% |
Multi-Investment |
|
+7% |
4.7% |
4.4% |
+5% |
31.8% |
30.4% |
Industrial Investment |
|
+3% |
80.9% |
78.3% |
(5%) |
34.7% |
36.4% |
Building & Construction |
|
+69% |
6.8% |
4.0% |
+10% |
26.4% |
24.1% |
Real Estate Development |
|
+31% |
18.9% |
14.4% |
+2% |
34.3% |
33.7% |
Transport |
|
+15% |
52.4% |
45.7% |
+9% |
28.1% |
25.9% |
Media & Publishing |
|
+96% |
95.9% |
48.9% |
+412% |
9.5% |
1.9% |
Hotel & Tourism |
|
+3% |
12.4% |
12.0% |
+1% |
28.5% |
28.2% |
Total |
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